Florida's winter cabbage crop looks as though it will begin harvesting just after Christmas. "It is a little late this season," says Hank Scott of Long & Scott Farms.
Of course, the earlier plantings on cabbage in the state experienced both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton which stressed the plants. "They were hurt by so much water and wind. We saved them but they're just not 100 percent," says Scott, adding that the acreage looks to be similar to last year's acreage.
That said, more recently, growing conditions have been favorable for the plants. "It's a little cool at night but cabbage doesn't mind the cool nights and in fact, likes cooler weather," he says.
Regional cabbage production
Long & Scott Farms harvests cabbage into March and after that, the majority of the focus for the year goes on its dill pickle and sweet corn plantings. Along with Florida, cabbage will also be coming out of Texas and Georgia.
Scott anticipates that demand will be high for cabbage once the season starts, given how strong pricing is right now on the commodity. (It's also stronger than last year at this time right now.) "Hopefully it'll stay that way and the price will stay up. That's what we need after such a disastrous fall," he says.
However, while demand is good for whole-head cabbage, consumption looks to be shifting toward processed cabbage as part of the value-added products consumers are gravitating towards. Long & Scott Farms has also been working with processing to supply local foodservice outlets.
For more information:
Hank Scott
Long & Scott Farms
[email protected]
www.longandscottfarms.com